The Automate Show was held June 6-9 in Detroit. More than 550 robotics and automation vendors exhibited. Here are five new products on display at the event.
The primary purpose of secondary packaging is to ensure the safety of a product during storage and transportation. The integrity of secondary packaging is particularly important with medical devices.
Like many long-established car manufacturers, the company that would become Škoda Auto started in the early 1890s by making bicycles. Today, you won’t see velocipedes rolling off of Škoda assembly lines, but you just might see plug-in electric vehicles.
Most manufacturers agree that digital transformation is necessary to remain competitive today and thrive tomorrow. Many large companies have already begun initiatives. But, when asked to quantify the impact of those initiatives on the bottom line, they often come up short.
Symphoni from ATS Automation is a compact, self-contained, pre-engineered automated assembly cell. Equipped with standard servo-controlled devices, including a high-speed delta robot, the cell can be configured to make a wide range of products, from simple two-piece assemblies to complex products having dozens of components and specialized processes.
Greater process control, lower setup costs and simple equipment programming make it easier than ever for manufacturers to build their automation in-house rather than hire a machine builder.
Some questions that manufacturers must address have a simple yes or no answer. Others are not so clear cut. A good example of the latter type is 'Should we build automation in-house?'
Product life cycles are getting shorter. For example, 20 percent of consumers replace their televisions every four to five years; another 5 percent replace their sets every one to three years. Smartphones are even worse. On average, consumers replace their phones about every 2.5 years.
Saving a penny per part or a millisecond of cycle time might not matter to some manufacturers. But machine builder Eclipse Automation knows that even small gains can offer huge competitive advantages for its customers. Greater flexibility and uptime through predictive maintenance are also crucial.
Manufacturers looking to take their operations to the next level often look to automation and robotics to make it happen. This is understandable, for such technology can cost-effectively increase throughput, optimize assembly and testing processes, improve product quality and decrease labor costs.
A manufacturer never achieves success completely on its own. Every company, to some extent, needs help from equipment suppliers, machine builders and integrators.